It is understood the coast guard came alongside the fishing boat and, at some point, the fishing boat’s trawl net became entangled in the Singapore vessel’s propellers, causing damage to the net, Bernama reported.

The Malaysian fishermen involved have alleged that the coast guard approached them in Malaysian waters but the latter denied this, saying the exchange took place in Singapore waters.

Singapore’s authorities also said yesterday it was the second time they had to warn the same fishermen involved, after a similar incident in October 2022.

MMEA acting director-general Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said one of the fisherman had stated in his police report that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) boat had damaged his trawl net 0.2 nautical miles southwest of the Tuas checkpoint.

He said the MMEA had referred to the department of survey and mapping (Jupem), based on the new map of Malaysia 1979, and the department had confirmed that the location of the incident was within Malaysian waters.

“Jupem confirmed that the location of the incident reported by the complainant is clearly in Malaysian waters near the Malaysia-Singapore second link bridge.

“The location of the incident is also the usual location for local fishermen in Johor to catch fish and prawns,” he said in a statement today.

According to Bernama, Saiful said the MMEA was disappointed by the actions of the SPF coast guard, which resulted in the fishermen having to pay for repairs to their net.

“The MMEA will request a diplomatic objection, so that similar incidents would not be repeated in the future and to maintain good relations between the two countries,” he was quoted as saying.